Even as we eagerly await 2013 releases from Nick Cave, Johnny Marr, Yo La Tengo, Frightened Rabbit, and Tegan and Sara (all covered in the List late last year), for sheer curiosity value, the against-all-odds reappearance of Stuart Goddard trumps them all. Having wrestled with mental-health issues, Ant is finally set to deliver the album he announced three years ago. And while this swampy, Dylanesque first taste won’t evoke memories of “Goody Two Shoes” (bit.ly/14RE0), it also won’t have any trouble holding your attention for 3:21. (From Adam Ant is The BlueBlack Hussar Marrying The Gunner’s Daughter, out Jan. 22)

9. TOM ODELL

“Another Love”

Next Big Thing alert: This 22-year-old just walked away with the coveted Brits Critics’ Choice award, an almost frighteningly reliable predictor of imminent success. (Ask Adele, Jessie J and Emeli Sande.) Sounding like a cross between Coldplay and James Blake, Odell even drops an ostensibly cred-boosting f-bomb in the middle of this impeccably crafted calling card. If you dive in now, you can feign a “that’s so January” eye-roll when his debut full-length lands in June.

8. DIDO f. KENDRICK LAMAR

“Let Us Move On”

Unlike Eminem’s sampling of Dido’s “Thank You” in the devastating look at fan obsession that is “Stan” (bit.ly/8Om72A), the results are considerably less organic when Dido reverses the process. Dropping 2012’s most acclaimed new rapper into the middle of a melancholy ballad doesn’t so much expand Dido’s musical palette as throw its properties into sharp relief. It may not be the result she was going for, but it ends up being unintentionally fascinating nonetheless. (From Girl Who Got Away, out March 5)

7. MARNIE STERN

“Year of the Glad”

Even if this giddy, 3 ½-minute blast by the New York guitar shredder were unremarkable, we would still have our first contender for album title of the year. The fact that this preview of The Chronicles of Marnia devours everything from metallic guitars to hyperactive drumming to Ono-ish vocal flourishes will make you forget all about the title in a right hurry. (From The Chronicles of Marnia, out March 19)

6. SKYLAR GREY f. EMINEM

“C’mon Let Me Ride”

Apart from Eminem’s involvement (gleefully filthy verses and the chorus to Queen’s “Bicycle Race,” sung in the voice of Peewee Herman), this preview of Grey’s chronically delayed album is notable for simultaneously exploiting and eviscerating the way women are presented — or present themselves — in pop and hip-hop videos. It’s a tactic she makes explicit two minutes into this incredibly catchy single. Very explicit. (From Don’t Look Down, out sometime this spring)

5. TWO HOURS TRAFFIC

“Last Star”

After a lineup shuffle and a producer switch from mentor/pop god Joel Plaskett to Darryl (New Pornographers) Neudorf, Charlottetown’s finest has mercilessly refined its sound into 11, hard-as-diamond pop songs. The really impressive part? There are 10 more new ones every bit as good as this. (From Foolish Blood, out Feb. 19)

4. BORN RUFFIANS

“With Her Shadow”

Presumably destined for the band’s in-progress third album, this marvel of shifting metre and time signatures shows how far this band has come since moving from Midland, Ont., to Toronto and announcing themselves five years ago with the skittish “Hummingbird” (bit.ly/hpF0P). Add in the little snare burst that has graced classics from The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” to U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and you’ve got music as pithy and expansive as the song’s central lyric: “She always liked her shadow more than her reflection.”

3. JOHN GRANT

“Pale Green Ghosts”

Given that this Czars frontman’s 2010 solo debut, Queen of Denmark (bit.ly/aEXdDV), is arguably the most acclaimed album of the past five years — Britain’s Mojo gave it a perfect 10 — its follow-up is a litmus test for the kind of artist Grant plans to be. While its predecessor evoked comparisons to everyone from Gilbert O’Sullivan to the Carpenters, this preview of its successor shuns lush piano textures in favour of burbling electronics. From the “Magic Bus”-like percussion to the end notes that suggest the James Bond theme music (bit.ly/Uob5Z), this is the work of someone with no interest in revisiting past triumphs. (From Pale Green Ghosts, out March 11)

2. RICHARD THOMPSON

“Good Things Happen to Bad People”

“Funny” is not the first word that springs to mind to describe this intense songwriter/grotesquely overlooked guitarist, but the epic bitterness Thompson revels in here is also dotted with cornball one-liners (“Mona Lisa, what a tease-ah”). You’ll laugh in spite of yourself. (From Electric, out Feb. 5)

1. NATALIE MAINES

“Mother”

It has been almost 10 years since a seemingly harmless remark about George Bush transformed the Dixie Chicks into something other than a fine country outfit and revealed Maines as one of the few performers — and that includes virtually every blustering “rebel” in rockdom — with the guts to risk fans, radio play, even her own safety to stand up (bit.ly/ZIm2Kp) for an unpopular belief. It is also why her Ben Harper-produced solo debut is such a big deal in general and why this Pink Floyd cover is so riveting in particular. “Mother, should I run for president?/Mother, should I trust the government.” Having those now-loaded words sung by Maines — or any woman — deepens and even blurs the message about the debilitating power of an overprotective parent. (From the West of Memphis soundtrack, out Jan. 15, and Mother, out May 7.)

This is the next, post-Psy frontier in K-pop’s move into the English-speaking mainstream. With their first album tailored specifically for that audience rumoured to be due this year, this group of nine South Korean girls seem more like video stars than musicians. Watching/listening to this new single may leave you appalled, but that doesn’t preclude also being impressed. The music sounds like a medley of 10 or 15 songs, skipping from electro to bubble gum, Korean to English, 140 bpm to 90 and back again. The result — arguably among the most adventurous pop music being made on the planet — both invites resistance and makes it difficult to summon any up.

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.